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Rooted Together
Introduction
When my oldest daughter was about four, she would hide and try to scare me. You know how four-year-olds hide. You can see them. So I would walk up and she would jump out. I would act surprised. She received great satisfaction from thinking that she had scared me.
Though her shout was loud, the impact was far less jolting. In the same way, knowing the future doesn’t save us from the jolt of what happens. If we know painful times are coming, it doesn’t prevent the pain, but allows us time to prepare ourselves for it. Imagine knowing you were going to run in a long race. It is going to be hot. You know you will be uncomfortable. Knowing this won’t stop the discomfort, but it will give you time to steady (prepare) yourself for the experience.
Chapter 8 is a glimpse of a future that Daniel will not live to see. It was for a time, a few hundred years from his own. This is why Daniel is told to seal the vision. For future readers, this was to prepare them in faithfulness for the day of testing. Their faith would be stretched, but they were warned of the coming hardships.
For us, the vision is past. It has happened. Even though it is a past vision, we will find the principles captured here to be important in our modern world as well. Far from dismissing this text, we greatly benefit from its teachings. We will break it down into two natural sections. First, we will examine the vision itself, and then we will analyze its interpretation. We will face another question. How do we live in the present and future troubles as we wait for our true home?
Trials and pain will happen, but our hope in the present is in the future Kingdom of Christ. Our main idea is this: Our knowledge and hope of Christ’s Kingdom affects every aspect of our daily lives now, especially through trials.
The Vision:
Take Comfort, for God knows the Future
8:1-14
(1-4) We meet Daniel a few years after the vision in chapter 7. He has another vision during the Babylonian Empire. I mention this because the vision takes place in Persia. This may cause some confusion. However, we best understand this as Daniel being moved to see this vision in the Persian capital of Susa. The ram he saw represented the Persian Empire. This vision happened before the events of chapter 5.
The ram is powerful and victorious. This represents the might and influence of the Persian Empire. They will dominate the region. There seems to be no contender to challenge its power and authority. Arrogance quickly ensued.
The original audience, perhaps in the Persian Empire, could understand the power of the ram. They lived under it. The Persians looked unstoppable. Today, we look at nations in our world and wonder the same. Can anyone stop them? As Ecclesiastes says, “nothing is new under the sun.” Even though for us this is a past event, we still have the same problems and the same tensions. Kingdoms still rage with what seems like untamable power. Just as in the past, no power is permanent except for heaven.
(5-8) Enter the goat, which will represent Greece. It charges and takes down the ram. What seemed unstoppable was stopped, and the process repeats itself. A big nation takes over, just to be ousted by another, younger, stronger nation. The goat with the mighty horn represents the nation of Greece. The mighty horn was a symbol of Alexander the Great.
Power was intoxicating for the goat, and power and arrogance broke the horn. A student of history will immediately see the connection. We observe this throughout history. Even the mightiest horn breaks under the weight of power and arrogance.
As we read this, we must understand that even though all these events have happened, they are no less important. First, they represent the pattern of sinful nations we see throughout history and our world today. This should inform us that no government will last, no matter how seemingly good, wicked, or powerful. We, as citizens of God’s Kingdom, must remember, we await an eternal kingdom. So don’t give worship to, or fear to the lesser and temporal powers that we see now. They will fall. In fact, they will bow before King Jesus.
Second, these verses inform us that power and arrogance are a deadly combination. Such nations may cause great damage for a time, but they will not last. We can neither hope in them nor give them all our fear and attention either.
As we see spiritual powers at play in our culture, they will find the same fate. They may be fear-inducing. They may promise power and comfort, but they are like the goat. Mighty for an allotted time. Soon, they will be judged before the might and glory of Christ. Oh, Beloved, endure in hope!
(9-14) The four horns that popped up after the big horn was broken represent the four generals who took over after Alexander the Great. From one of these four kingdoms came one that caused many problems for Israel (the glorious land). Known as the ‘little horn’, this is thought to be Antiochus IV by most theologians.
Antiochus IV was a king who set up an altar of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on it. He also killed those who were caught reading their Torah. Where the Babylonians and Persians allowed people to worship their own gods, Antiochus IV did not. His kingdom came from one of the four generals.
This little horn caused trouble for God’s people. It goes against the army of heaven and even throws truth to the ground. This goes on to the point that the holy ones (angels) cry out to one another, “How long will this happen?” This vision represents a troubling time of great pain and strife for God’s people, Israel. This is a message and a warning of what is to come.
Knowing what was coming didn’t take the sting off the pain, but it provided hope that God knows the future. So what are we to make of the number 2,300? Again, no one really knows. It could mean one of two things. For our purposes today, let us agree on one thing. This number, whatever it means in terms of time, has an end. The question, “how long?” Has an answer.
The evil done by the little horn has an expiration date. It will be brought down. The sanctuary will be restored. God will throw down the evil horn in His timing, and He will fix what was broken at that time. The number was meant to provide hope to those distressed by the vision and eventually by the horn itself. There is an end, and God has determined it.
The same promise is true for us today. Yes, evil will rage. We will experience pain and trials. But God’s promise from His word is that just as the little horn was brought down, our present evil will be stopped, too. It has an expiration date. Danny Akin said it this way in light of recent tragic events in America, “In the darkness, the light of King Jesus and his gospel shines even more brightly.” Let the hope of King Jesus and His kingdom burn brightly in our hearts as we face the evil of this age. He is guiding us home to Him.
The Interpretation:
Take Comfort in God’s Sovereignty and get to work
8:15-27
(15-22) Gabriel now speaks with Daniel and explains who the ram and the goat are. We are amazed that such detail was given to Daniel hundreds of years before the events. All of this shows that God is sovereign. He knows what will happen. The evil displayed by the little horn is not a surprise to God. It shouldn’t surprise Israel either, for they knew it was coming.
If God knew what would happen then, He knows our tomorrow. He knows the end of the world. Our God reigns over the future. Nothing that happens in our world is a surprise to God. He promised that tough times are ahead. Jesus promised this to His disciples. Their hope was that He had overcome the world. That is our hope today as well. Jesus stands over all of world history. We know where it is all going.
We know that one day all the wicked will be judged. We know that one day every knee will bow and confess Him as King. We know that while we roam this world, we are not home yet. We live in hope of our true home. Beloved, our home in Jesus’ Kingdom is a reality. He is guiding all world events, present and future, to an end. Then we will truly be home.
David Helm said it this way:
The final word is not had by the ram, or the goat, but by the Lamb.”
(23-26) The king (little horn) will oppose God. He will prosper while doing evil. He will stop worship and will kill many of God’s people. And while that is deeply troubling, the promise made is that he, too, will be broken by God’s power. It won’t simply be another earthly power, but by God’s divine design. For all the rage and power this king yielded, he was brought down in turn.
(27) After the vision, Daniel is sick for many days. Seeing the future suffering that will come to his people, Daniel is distraught. Knowing the future doesn’t take the sting off the events. However, Daniel didn’t stay in bed for long. Nor did he give in to lethargy. Instead, he got up and went back to work. Danny Akin puts it this way, “His knowledge of the Lord’s future kingdom allowed him to live already for that kingdom.”
This last principle is important. This was the message for God’s people. Here is the suffering you will face in the future. For now, go to work and be faithful. Live for the future kingdom in light of the present evil kingdom.
For us, this principle is true too. In Mark 13, Jesus gives details that will take place before He comes back. But the message wasn’t to look for these signs and mark your calendars. It was to see these signs as a warning to be about Kingdom business.
Beloved, let us be about kingdom business in our workplaces. Let us share the gospel in the way we talk and walk in our jobs, schools, families, and communities. Oh, that the gospel would shine bright through us as we walk through the dark kingdom we inhabit. Oh, that we would see our footsteps as bringing the light of God’s Kingdom to Pingtung, to Taiwan, and to the world. As we wade through the present evils, do so by being busy in the place God has placed us. Steady your feet and heart for the task.
Just as a race has a finish line, evil and suffering will reach their time. But we are not to wait idly for that future freedom, but presently call all those around us to join Jesus’ Kingdom. Let us bring the people around us into a relationship with our great King, who walked among people, endured suffering, took on the wrath for sin, and promised one day He would come again. Let us be found active in our communities as lights of the gospel. Speaking of our hope, whenever possible.
Conclusion
Beloved, Daniel 8 reminds us that kingdoms rise and fall, but only Christ’s Kingdom endures forever. The ram, the goat, and the little horn all had their day, but each was broken in turn. Evil and suffering, though loud and frightening, have an expiration date set by the hand of God. Our call is not to despair, nor to sit idle, but to endure to the end with our eyes fixed on Jesus. He knows the future, He rules over history, and He is guiding us home. So let us be faithful in the present, busy with kingdom work, shining the light of the gospel where God has placed us. For though we are not home yet, we walk with confidence, knowing that the finish line is certain and that Christ, the Lamb, has already secured the victory.
“We are not home yet, so let us walk with our purpose set. Trusting in the King, whose blood and resurrection raise our hearts to sing. Sit not idly by when the world hurts and our hearts cry. Set your feet on the ground, be about the kingdom work wherever you are found. Beloved, when the evil of this world presses us all the more, let us lift our eyes to heaven’s shore. A home for us together to praise our King forevermore.”
“Father, we thank you for the promise we have that you are in control of worldly and spiritual powers. We thank you for the call to be found busy glorifying you wherever we go. Strengthen our feet, mend our hearts. May we press on until we are truly home with You! Amen.”